How payment works
To get started with hosting webinars as a premium customer, we want to make the payment process fluently. Find out how we made tweaks to the process before a lead becomes a paid customer.
Overview
As WebinarGeek claimed to be easy-to-use, we want leads to experience the same slogan during the payment process and managing their subscription.
I was the main Product Designer working on this improvement in August 2021 with a team of two engineers and a product manager.
An improved overview of the subscription
The Problem
WebinarGeek interacts directly with customers via the live chat on weekly basis. Many incoming questions from lead as well as customers concerning information about the subscription along with the management of the plan.
As result, new leads often gets confused how the subscriptions works that causes them looking into other webinar solutions. In addition, existing customers had difficulties with changing plans, managing add-ons or payment information.
Accordingly, it meant making changes to the way the payment process and management has worked from the start.
Enhanced the experience with new components
Pay is a crucial aspect of any job but it can also be technically complex. The most difficult part about designing this feature was the technical limitations how the payment structure was set up with from the start.
Instead of starting a big T-shirt project, the team decided to keep this initiative compact enough to make big impact for users. To maintain the slogan 'easy-to-use' with leads and customers, we used concise copy and clear visuals to help them understand what was happening at each step and to guide them resolve any obstacles.
Goals
For User
Our solution should help the leads to get on board safely, easy management of their subscription.
For Business
Increase the conversion rate from lead to paid customer and to decrease incoming questions about subscription and payment.
For Product
Keeping the same payment structure we have and avoid making big technical changes. Our solution should help the leads to get on board quick and easy as possible but to also keep the same payment structure we have.
Research
Determined to make the payment process smoother than before, we analyzed incoming feedback from leads and customers in Intercom (live chat tool) to have an understanding how the experience has been so far. Along with conducting quick remote user testing with iterations based on feedback, focused on the next principles:
1. Control & Accessibility
2. Easy to use
First time to get a paid subscription
The team mainly focused on the editor where the user can control the content, branding and channel settings. The structure emplacement of every manageable information was crucial. Complex challenges like this were among several identified during user testing sessions and validating this and other solutions before implementation was the key to setting a new basis for the feature.
The interactions we mainly focused on were repetitive feedforward throughout the payment process and the subscription overview to have a better understanding how the payment and billing structure works. To surpass the experience improvement, we validated solutions including information emplacement and visuals.
How it works
From trial to paid subscription
In the previous version, people often get confused regarding the billing cycle due to the toggle component in the pricing table. For that reason, we made each step of the product selection accessible and clear enough for users to understand. From selecting an option, and customizing the subscription to the billing cycle.
Billing cycle
Increment questions about the billing cycle were one of the confusion the users were challenged by. Following the range of our customers have different levels of technical understanding, hence we chose clear buttons and cohesive words to differ the billing cycle on visual and verbal levels.
Summary of the payment
Historically, no insight information was shown concerning how the total amount was set up. As result, customer support was overwhelmed by incoming questions to acquire that insight information. In addition, informing about the auto-renewal of the subscription is crucial during the checkout.
Current plan overview
Previously, users don't a clear insight into how the subscription has been built up. Although existing customers often customize their plans based on their business needs.
Changing subscription in account
Discover the overview of pricing table here (similar like in-app):
Results
Ensuing the new update of the payment process a decrease in questions in general. The impact was to also take away the workload for the Customer Support team.
We slowly created a value of having a flexible subscription structure that attracts new customers as well as keeps the retention rate high. As result, we managed to achieve a conversion rate of 16% more than before.